Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865).
Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche
Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – hori Take.
Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847).
Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 230 x 295 mm.
Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1859).
Title: Princess Sotoori [衣通姫] (Sotoori-hime) – Sotoori-hime was a concubine of Emperor Ingyo (reigned AD 412-53), and one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry [和歌三神] (Waka sanjin).
Series: Chronicles of Elegant Women [風雅女史傳] (Fūga joshiden).
The sign on the torii (Shinto shrine gates) reads: Mountain king shrine [山王宮] – it is the Sannō Shrine at the Nagata Riding Grounds in Edo. A print with these gates is at MFA (Boston) # 21.9853.
Other prints from the same series in this collection:
Note: Special thanks to Horst Graebner, who helped decipher and understand the meaning.
